The invention concerns a military tank with a turret accommodating a heavy weapon that can be elevated and has a barrel mounted in a cradle and extending out through a shield, whereby the optical axis of a sight mounted stationary on the weapon extends through the cradle, paralleling the longitudinal axis of the bore, toward an objective on the outside of the turret.
The optical axis of the sight employed in known tanks of this type extends, as will be specified hereinafter with reference to the drawing, straight forward through the cradle and shield, and the objective is accordingly on the front of the shield.
It has been demonstrated that the straight perforation for the optical axis of the sight results in a discontinuity in the defensive superstructure of the armor, which represents a weak point. Due to the penetrating capacity of up-to-date ammunition, such weak points are multiply larger than the opening actually needed for the optical axis.
Furthermore, since the opening for the optical axis of the sight is next to the barrel the shield must be relatively wide, which adds to its weight and hence to the unbalance that must be overcome when the barrel is elevated.